Friend first, then a coach

Published: November 24, 2000 12:00AM

The Hiland gymnasium was open Wednesday night on the eve of Thanksgiving.

It wasn't for a basketball practice, which would have been the obvious reason the Hiland community would have been drawn to the year-old facility. For behind one's God, nothing can dominate this community like basketball can.

How were the Hiland Hawks going to do this year? For the past 16 years, expectations were always high. Coach Perry Reese Jr., boys basketball coach at Hiland High School in that time span, always had a winning team.

The several hundred people who gathered at the gymnasium Wednesday were there for Reese, but it wasn't a joyous occasion. Instead, it was to pay their respects to Reese, who had passed away earlier in the day after losing his six-month-long battle with cancer.

He died shortly after 10 a.m. at Walnut Hills Retirement Community in Walnut Creek where he had been admitted two weeks ago. Reese, 48, had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor earlier this year.

"The superintendent, Mr. (Gary) Sterrett, came to our school and told us about 1 o'clock," said interim Hiland coach Keith Troyer, who was a freshman when Reese was first hired at Hiland, and later joined him as an assistant coach on the Hiland bench. "Everyone knew he wasn't doing well, and we thought we were prepared for what was going to happen. But, when it actually happens, you just aren't prepared for things like that."

Sterrett's friendship with Reese went back to their pre-Hiland days.

"I've know Perry for 23 years," Sterrett said. "He was a coach at Guernsey Catholic and I was at Newcomerstown, but once you knew Perry, he was a friend forever. Perry had the ability to talk with you, listen to you, so that when you were finished you felt he was your friend.

"Perry was a good fit for this school district because of its work ethic and his work ethic. He was able to get athletes to achieve beyond their ability levels. But, Perry meant much more to this community than basketball. If a student was having a problem, or a parent was having a problem with their son or daughter, they would talk with Perry with their son or daughter and he would help."

Reese's attention wasn't focused solely on the kids, however.

"If you had a problem, Perry was there in a second," Sterrett said. "Three years ago I lost my father. The kids had played in the tournament Thursday night and my father's calling hours were on Friday, 100 miles away (from Berlin), and in walked Perry. He always had the time."

Reese posted a 304-85 record at Hiland in 16 years, which included a trip to the Div. IV state Final Four this past March and a state championship in 1992. All told, Hiland won 11 Inter-Valley Conference titles, a dozen sectional crowns, seven district titles, five regional crowns and a 1992 state championship under Reese's guidance.

There will be a public memorial service Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Hiland gymnasium, which Hiland school officials are urging the public to attend.

Reese's funeral services are pending, but are intended to be for the family and close friends.

Despite his passing, Reese will continue to aid Hiland students. Earlier this summer he established the Perry Reese Jr. Foundation, a scholarship fund that will be used to aid Hiland students. One will be used to help aid a basketball player with college tuition, while the other will be an academic scholarship for a member of the student body.

The family has asked in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Perry Reese Jr. Foundation, in care of the Hiland Academic Boosters, P.O. Box 275, Berlin OH 44610.